DENIS Smith has backed Dennis Lawrence to handle the pressure of next summer's World Cup.

The 31-year-old centre-half will be part of the Trinidad and Tobago squad that have been drawn to face Sweden, Paraguay and, most intriguingly, England, in Group B.

Lawrence - whose goal in the play-off decider against Bahrain booked his country's ticket to Germany - is expected to head the Trinidad defence in their clash with Sven Goran Eriksson's men.

That means he'll be charged with marking the formidable front-pairing of Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney.

Wrexham manager Smith admits that would be a tough proposition for any defender, but he reckons his club captain cam hold his own against the feared Premiership duo.

He said: 'He's a very strong-minded man. He knows his own mind and he stands up as a man, so it's not going to bother him in the slightest.

'Owen and Rooney would give most people in the world a problem. But the one thing about Dennis is that he will believe he will be able to handle them, and he'll be working on ways on how to stop them.

'I'm sure whoever starts for England, if Dennis plays - and we all hope the lad does - then he will be fine.'

Lawrence has been having treat-ment on a chest injury he picked up in Saturday's 1-1 home draw with Notts County, so he faces a battle to be fit for tomorrow's trip to Carlisle United. Another who could be missing is Lee McEvilly.

The striker, who's scored six goals in his last seven matches, faces up to three months on the sidelines if a scan confirms a stress fracture in his right foot.

If it is bad news, it will be a big blow for Wrexham, who like tomorrow's hosts, are vying for promotion.

Carlisle are third in the standings and are the only team to win at the Racecourse this season, so Smith's assistant Kevin Russell says they will be a good test of their promotion ambitions.

The number two said: 'Carlisle are going well and it's one of a number of big games we've got coming up, so it's an exciting time.

'I know their manager Paul Simpson pretty well, and I know he likes them to play open, attacking football, so I'm sure they'll come at us.

'But we feel we're performing pretty well at the moment without getting the full reward, so it should be a good game - and one that we can win.

'We are one of a number of teams who need to put a run together of three of four wins because there's nothing in this division.

'Apart from Wycombe, who may have drawn a lot but they've still not lost, everyone else has been pretty inconsistent. So if we can get a win on Saturday it might set us off on a run.'

Alex Smith is expected to shake off a knock he sustained against County, while Andy Holt is back in training. But Robbie Foy has been absent this week with a cold.